what is the perfect camera for the MP-E 65 Macro lens

Hi all
is it the FF bodies
or the crop ?
and which one ?
i need a clear details in the photos
Thanks

The MP-E65 is seriously sharp and will work fine on any body. I would choose according to the likely size of your subject - since the lens cannot come back further than 1:1, it gives a bigger coverage on FF than it does on crop. In other words you can't fit something bigger than 22mm across the crop frame, but you can go up to 36mm subjects using a FF camera. Conversely if you want maximum magnification then the crop gives you the same framing advantage it does with long telephoto lenses.

Thanks a lot Mark

Also; with equal framing, I believe you will get a larger DOF on say; a 7D than on a 6D. Can make it easier to get more of the subject in focus.

I would say the 7D it gives you more magnification and gives you a better chance of catching a bug flying or licking something due to the fast FPS.

thanks w0m and shadowcat

I have used the 7D, T3i and the T4i takes the prize! It allows the lens to be positioned in any way, and I can work with the camera totally from the rotating touch screen......here is a recent winter example...

The MPE 65 is a real challenge to use. The dof is really thin, so you may want a focusing rail to move the camera forward/backwards a fraction of a mm. I hope you were counting on using a tripod. You certainly will need a body with a good (~1M dots) Live View, fortunately thats just about any Canon Body in the last 4 years. Some of the LV screens are fractionally larger than others. Crop will allow a greater distance from the subject, which is often an issue with getting enough light onto the subject with a really near filed macro. Conversely FF will have less noise, all things equal.
Mike K

That's a great snowflake shot. I use an angle finder if I need to, but I guess the swivel screen is even more convenient, using liveview.

Swivel screen, with liveview and TOUCH is sweet!

I like it on my M, but the t4i would probably be my choice if I have one. Otherwise, something with a large bright viewfinder because it can get very dark at high mag.

shadowcat wrote in post #15688923
I would say the 7D it gives you more magnification and gives you a better chance of catching a bug flying or licking something due to the fast FPS.

In truth, if a lens gives 1:1 magnification, it does so irregardless of format size!

• A 14.9mm tall object will fully fit in the frame of 14.9mm APS-C frame height when at 1:1, and the same object will be 14.9mm tall in the FF sensor as well, but we are able to see another 9.1mm of surrounding area in the FF image.
  
• A 24mm tall object will not be fully captured within the 14.9mm frame height of APS-C, but it will fit the full frame height of the 24mm x 36mm FF image.

• A 14.9mm tall object will be 14.9mm on the APS-C frame, ergo it is captured at 1:1 (1x)
  
• A 14.9mm tall object will be 24mm in the FF image, ergo it is captured at 1.61:1 (1.61x)

w0m wrote in post #15688821
Also; with equal framing, I believe you will get a larger DOF on say; a 7D than on a 6D. Can make it easier to get more of the subject in focus.

Hmm.. This is worth an experiment. I believe that the FF would actually give you more DOF if using the whole frame but if you try and frame them the same then maybe not. This is worth an experiment.

shadowcat wrote in post #15688923
I would say the 7D it gives you more magnification and gives you a better chance of catching a bug flying or licking something due to the fast FPS.

There is no way that you are going to be able to get bug in flight with this lens. Even at 1:1 the working distance is quite small and the DOF is really really small.at 5:1 the working distance is maybe an inch or so. You might get really lucky, but I'm not seeing it happen.

gjl711 wrote in post #15689498
Hmm.. This is worth an experiment. I believe that the FF would actually give you more DOF if using the whole frame but if you try and frame them the same then maybe not. This is worth an experiment.

gjl711, if you refer to my immediately prior post, if using a lens on both APS-C and FF and 'filling the frame' (what I assume was meant by 'equal framing'), the FF image needs to capture the object at higher magnification in order to fill its larger frame, so as captured there is LESS DOF from the larger image. But if we then produce an 8x12" print from both images, when have to enlarge the APS-C image by 1.6x greater magnification, thereby the end result (the print) has identical DOF...one was enlarged 1.6x during shooting, the other was enlarged 1.6x during printing, yielding identical results!

I don't have the T4i, so this may be a dumb question...

I can see where having an articulated LCD would be handy for macro shooting, and I can see how the touch sceen would be useful with an autofocus lens... But how is the touch screen helpful with a manual focus lens such as the MP-E?